COMMUNITY FORUM

kitchen countertops

I am the proud owner of a new home. I bought the home new about six months ago. It has a very big country kitchen with about 12 feet of countertop. All of the grout has now cracked and left a gap in some places of about 3/8 to 1/2 inch and as the house is settling the cabinets have moved out a bit away from the wall as well. I do not want the builder, and I use the term losely, coming back out to fill the back of my cabinets and wall with grout.(his suggestion is to keep filling the cracks with new grout). Someone else told me to look into the old alluminum coner mouldings they used to put in houses built in the 50s & 60s. Does anyone know where can I find this and what specifically is it called?

If it's the moulding I'm thinking of, it's meant for laminate tops and has a flange that goes under the laminate before the laminate is installed. In any case it was only 1/4" wide, so it wouldn't do you much good. I think the wall is moving, not the cabinets.

It really sounds as if you have some serious foundation problems that need to be addressed first before trying to fix anything inside. I would start by calling the city building inspector if you have one to see if the house is built to code, then go from there. Good luck.